Adult Matters
by blinkkittylove
Summary: Maki's turned 18, graduated and is joining Nico and 1Kiss in London to kick off her year on the road. What could go wrong with the Nico, hotel room, room service plan? Rin and a video camera, that's what. A/N: Decided to err on the side of fun. I have nearly sorted out a plan for the second years, apologies for mostly just mentions so far. Enjoy! Thanks for your comments/insights


LONDON CALLING BACK

Hanayo had finished her coffee and magazine break and decided to return to the hotel room she and Rin shared. Rin was laying across the bed, laptop open. Hanayo smiled at her best friend and fiancée, always a cheerful sight, no matter where their joint adventures took them. Rin, however, was paying no attention to her, instead video chatting with someone.

"Video all right?" Rin asked.

"Perfect," Hanayo recognized Nozomi's voice. Rin hadn't told her about anything she was working on for Nozomi. Nozomi had offered to put together a behind the scenes video about the first 1Kiss international tour, but she was flying in to get footage when the tour got to the United States. Maki was flying in today, finally done with high school, 18 years old and ready to spend a year on the road with Nico. Nico had been so excited and fidgety, Hanayo had made Rin offer to take her out for a run. But Nico had winked, said she had her own tricks and headed to the gym, leaving Rin and Hanayo to have a afternoon to themselves.

"I can't wait to see it." Nozomi answered.

"Video?" Hanayo's voice was crisp. She sat next to Rin.

"Hello, Hanayo-chan. Are you enjoying London? We miss you here." Nozomi chirped, "How is Nico-cchi? Has Maki-chan arrived yet?"

Rin leaned back against a pile of pillows, her arm around Hanayo's waist. Hanayo could feel her bouncing with excitement. She frowned at Nozomi, "What video are you and Rin-chan talking about?"

Nozomi shifted her position a bit and Hanayo's suspicions increased.

"Rin took some behind the scenes video for me, candid shots. It'll help make the documentary look so much more natural," Nozomi giggled. "Don't frown like that, Hanayo-chan, you'll…"

"Rin-chan will be calling you back." Hanayo decided, closing the laptop. Rin finally started to pick up the danger signals in her partner's voice and sat up, watching Hanayo with concern.

"Kayo-chin?"

"Show me the video. Now."

Maki was used to counting in months now that Nico, Rin and Hanayo were touring as 1Kiss. The eleven months of her last year in high school, without her girlfriend or her two best friends, now three months since Nico had left for 1Kiss's international tour. But only 1 week since Maki had turned 18 and bought a first class plane ticket to London, where Nico had a three day break and Maki would be joining her for a year of travel. Worry and excitement mixed, what would happen when they saw each other, would Maki be too nervous and snap at Nico, would Nico be excited or too busy to see her?

Maki pulled her suitcase along. Taxi. Her flight had gotten in early so there should be more than enough time to get reaquainted with Nico before dinner. No real reason to be nervous - or much to catch up on. They'd talked on the phone last night, and most other nights after all. But something about being near Nico always made things more difficult. Static in Maki's brain. Nico taking up so much space in Maki's brain. And the urge to get closer to Nico surged at unexpected times. That pull had only gotten stronger the more their relationship had developed. It surprised Maki. She had expected familiarity would cool things off, give her a breather, some space, but no, the closer she got to Nico, the more she thought about getting closer to Nico. Med school would be difficult like this, unless somehow there was a degree available in distracting a sexy, determined Super Idol girlfriend from her relentless pursuit of fame.

Nico was stretching out after her workout when her phone went off. Nico looked down, nothing from Maki yet. That had been Hanayo's ringtone. She picked up and read the text.

H: Emergency.

N: What's wrong?

H: Nozomi.

Nico frowned. What had happened? She'd have to skip the shower. Picking up her towel, she started for the elevator.

Maki found her walking speed increasing as she exited the elevator. Nico had texted her the room number last night and after three too long months, they were finally going to be in the same room. They'd never been apart this long. Maki didn't know what it would feel like.

"Put NOZOMI on the phone, Eli. NOW!" It would feel like Nico was calling out someone else's name in anger. Maki frowned as she stopped outside the door and knocked.

As Nico opened the door, she continued ranting at her phone, "If that footage isn't destroyed, Eli, we are no longer friends. Tell her THAT."

Maki stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. Nico looked at her, eyes apologetic, hand reaching out to squeeze hers. Then Nico pulled Maki forcefully into the room as she listened to Eli. Maki stumbled toward the bed, leaving her suitcase.

"No," Nico's response was flat, no sympathy, "This is a new low, even for her. She's an innocent."

Maki sat on the bed and wrapped her arms around Nico's waist, head pushing into Nico's shoulders, inhaling, trying not to shake, or crush Nico. Nico was dressed in new workout clothes, sweaty, tense. Maki inhaled and the tiny part of her brain not screaming "Kiss Me Nico" wondered if Nozomi had done something to one of Nico's sisters? Or Alisa?

"Delete it, destroy it, make sure no one else ever sees it. YESTERDAY." Nico threw her phone down and fell back into Maki.

Maki hugged her closer. Nico leaned her head on Maki's shoulder, her weight resting on Maki's lap. Maki started nuzzling her ear, "Do you know how much I missed you."

Nico turned to face Maki, with another of her quicksilver mood changes, "As much as I missed you?"

And then they were kissing and Maki was pulling them both back onto to the bed and Rin was bursting through the door in tears.

And Rin was bursting through the door in tears?! Maki stopped kissing Nico and lifted her head from the bed. Nico flew off Maki, on a collision course with Rin. Rin dodged Nico, barely, and ducked behind Maki, now sitting up on the bed.

"Maki-chan," Rin was wailing, "Kayo-chin won't speak to me."

Maki looked to Nico for some help, but Nico just glared at Rin.

"YOU!"

"Save me, Maki-chan!" Rin threw her arms around Maki, keeping the taller woman toward Nico.

"Let go of me." Maki shouted, standing up, but Rin still clung to her.

"But…"

"Let me go now or I leave you to Nico-chan."

Rin dropped her arms, "Maki-chan?"

Nico stared through Maki at Rin. Then she glared at Maki, "Are you really going to harbor this criminal?"

"Criminal?" Maki couldn't think of anything that Rin could have possibly done that could have earned her criminal status, "Nico-chan, what happened?"

Nico snarled, then sighed, "Ask your friend there. I'm going to stay with Hanayo. She should be done talking to Eli now. You," Nico pointed a finger at Maki, "Watch the footage. And fix this."

Nico paused at the door for a moment, her smile sad, "I love you, Maki-chan. I'll be happy to show you HOW much I missed you once this is fixed." Then Nico slammed the door. Maki watched in horror as her afternoon and evening and future plan deserted her, then turned to glare at Rin. Rin looked exhausted but Maki found herself with no sympathy so she towered. Rin met her glare and then moved to a chair, sobbing.

"Kayo-chin hates me."

Maki started thinking fast instead of just reacting. Mild mannered Hanayo mad enough at her beloved Rin to throw her out of their room, Nico mad enough at Nozomi to threaten to end their friendship, Nico mad enough at Rin, the most loving and innocent of souls, to call her a criminal. And a situation dire enough that Nico didn't just slam the door on everyone else when Maki arrived.

Maki sighed, "Rin."

Rin sniffed and looked up.

"What did Nozomi ask you to do?"

"Take a camera and get candid footage for the 1Kiss First International tour rockumentary. Nozomi said it would be a fun surprise for Kayo-chin and Nico and help sell it to producers."

"Nozomi," Maki groaned in her head, tempted to pull out her phone and yell her devious friend's name into it, loud enough to be heard in Japan.

Maki was about to ask where Rin had the footage when Nico opened the door, stomped to the table and dropped Rin's laptop onto it.

"5 minutes 38 seconds, 13 minutes 22 seconds, then you toss her out of our room." The door slammed behind Nico.

Rin's teary eyes looked to Maki for support. Maki grabbed the laptop.

"What did I do wrong?"

"I don't know, Rin."

"Kayo-chin's so angry. And Nico-chan chopped Rin so hard and called her an idiot." Rin rubbed the top of her head, whimpering. Maki made a mental note to get the ginger some ice; Nico had probably left a bruise.

Maki leaned over Rin and ff'ed the video. 5 minutes, 38 seconds. Backstage at a 1Kiss concert, venue unknown, Nico, with the assistance of a dresser, tossing off one costume and slipping into another in less than a minute. It could have been mistaken for an intimate embrace and Maki's eyes narrowed when she thought she saw a flash of exposed Nico. She growled; Rin's panicking noises got louder. Then Maki ff'ed to 13 minutes 22 seconds. It was outside a bathroom, there were shower noises, Maki felt her fists start to clench. If Nico came out of that bathroom, Rin was a dead woman. But Hanayo stepped out, smiling, in a towel, with another towel wrapped around her head.

Maki closed the laptop and sighed, "Rin?"

"Kayo-chin's so pretty." Rin gleamed, then remembered, "And she's never going to speak to me again."

"Did you give this to Nozomi already?"

Rin nodded, green eyes wide and confused, "Nozomi said fans love candid footage."

Maki put her hands on Rin's shoulders. But strangling her friend wouldn't help anyone. It was time for a frank discussion about Nozomi's tendencies.

The door popped open once again, Nico's ruby eyes glaring, "Did you fix this yet, Maki-chan?"

Maki stepped forward as Rin curled up in a terrified ball, "Nico-chan, Rin doesn't…"

Nico shook her head, "Not good, Maki-chan. Are you and the peeping Thomasina enjoying yourselves watching me undress?"

"NICO!"

Door slammed.

"I hate you, Rin." Maki sat across from Rin, rubbing her eyes. This was supposed to be a romantic evening, with Nico, lots of Nico, lots more Nico, room service and maybe a movie to fall asleep halfway through. And here she was, having to explain to a terrified, clueless, innocent exactly what she had done wrong. Wait, what was that thought...movie.

Maki raised her head, Rin looked hopeless.

"Maki-chan?"

"No, I don't hate you. But it's time someone had the talk with you."

"What talk?" Rin cocked her head, "Rin knows all about kissing and..."

Oh god, Maki was in no way ready for any part of this conversation, but Rin was her best friend and she needed to know the truth.

"Not that talk. The why you can't trust Nozomi with a video camera talk."

"But Nozomi's our friend."

Maki nodded, "Yes, she is. But you know how Hanayo eats too much rice and Nico spends too much time choosing filters to post glamour selfies with?"

Rin nodded, paying close attention.

"Well, Nozomi has a bad habit of doing things with video footage." Maki went to her luggage and pulled out her laptop. "You've never seen any of her movies, have you?"

Rin shook her head, "Kayo-chin didn't want to."

Maki laughed, "Nico-chan said I was too young and she didn't want to be responsible for corrupting a minor. So I tracked it down anyway."

Maki pulled up a password protected file, then looked at Rin seriously before she hit play, "You want to protect Hanayo and Nico, right?"

Rin nodded, surprised at Maki's tone, "Rin loves Kayo-chin so much. And Nico is like Rin's sister. Plus, Rin keeps an eye on Nico for Maki-chan."

Maki smiled, "And I appreciate it. So keeping that in mind, this is Nozomi's first movie. She took footage of people out in public and mashed it up with footage of animals mating in the wild, using an animation program. She won an award in France."

Maki hit play, stood behind Rin and held her head so Rin couldn't turn away from the video. For its eight minute length Rin twitched and whimpered. Maki tried to focus on what Nozomi's cut rate composer had gotten wrong about the tempo. She remembered not sleeping after she'd watched it the first time and then having to confess to Nico why she was still shivering from nightmares when Nico had shown up the next morning for a brunch date. Nico had laughed a bit heartlessly and still dragged Maki to go shopping with her, although Nico had decided to drop finding new shoes from the agenda, substituting holding hands and listening to a jazz concert in the park instead. Nico was never COMPLETELY heartless.

Maki sat across from Rin again. Rin's eyes were empty and she shuddered.

"Not Kayo-chin," she whispered.

"Rin?"

Rin's eyes had a look in them Maki had never seen as Rin rose automatically to her feet and dragged herself to the door. Nico opened it to check on progress and watched curiously as Rin shuffled past her, "Rin?"

No acknowledgment. Nico stepped into the hall and watched Rin go into her room, then stepped to Maki, closing the door behind her.

"What did you say to her?" Nico's glare was suspicious.

"I made her watch Nozomi's first movie."

"Maki!"

And suddenly another voice, an angrier voice could be heard outside the door, "MAKI!"

Nico chuckled, "Hanayo knows my door combination. I don't know if I can save you, Maki-chan."

"Nico-chan."

Nico turned and kissed Maki emphatically, "Things get so much livelier when you're here. I love you." Then she met Hanayo at the door and pulled her into the hall.

Maki fell back onto the bed. This wasn't the sort of excitement she'd signed on for when she'd decided to write her first song for μ's. But when she touched her lips, still tingling with the force of Nico's kiss, she knew it was exactly the thrill she'd been missing for the past three months.

ELSEWHERE

Nozomi woke up alone, a little cold. Unusual. She wondered where Eli had wandered to. Making breakfast? Clock said too early for breakfast, especially considering the time they'd fallen asleep the night before.

Nozomi wrapped up in a robe and wandered into the kitchen. Eli was sitting at the table, frowning, her arms crossed. Her phone sat in front of her.

"Good morning, Elicchi."

"I love you, Nozomi." Eli's voice was too calm.

"What's wrong?"

"Sit down." Eli pointed to the seat across from her, "I guess you didn't hear my phone start to go off at 1:17 a.m."

Nozomi giggled, "I'm afraid you wore me out."

Eli nodded. Nozomi was starting to get worried. She moved, sitting in Eli's lap.

"Hanayo called me."

Nozomi froze, her arms on Eli's shoulders. The blue eyes had a look she certainly recognized, but rarely saw these days, stern, almost icy, detached.

"Then Nico called me and I nearly let her yell in your ear." Eli frowned at the love of her life, "Really, Nozomi, taking advantage of Rin?"

Nozomi started to get up, but Eli's arms had wrapped tightly around her waist, "I didn't know she'd get footage that would upset everyone."

"Nozomi!" Eli sighed.

"I'm sorry Eli. I just wanted to help…"

Eli shook her head, "No, you just can't control your voyeuristic tendencies. I love you, but this is too far."

Eli sounded so sad, Nozomi started to feel flutterings of panic, "Elicchi? I can reform…"

Eli laughed, kissing Nozomi, "No, you really can't. But you're going to have to suffer deprivation for awhile. I sent your electronic devices to London so Hanayo can make sure the video is scrubbed from all of them. Umi picked them up an hour ago."

Nozomi pushed off Eli, confused and angry, "What?"

"Hanayo is very very persuasive when she's angry. Plus, I agree with her. And Nico's on the verge of breaking off your friendship. Also, apparently Maki spent her first day in London with Rin instead of Nico so I'm probably actually doing you a favor by preventing that conversation."

Eli picked up her phone, "I need to get a little more sleep. You probably have apologies to work on."

She lifted Nozomi up, kissed her on the cheek and set her down on a chair. Nozomi stared after her for a minute, then smiled. Sending everything off to London was certainly inconvenient, but Nozomi respected Eli's sense of fairness. She stood, stretching, and opened the cabinet with the emergency chocolate stash. And damn if Ayase Eli in her stern and icy mode wasn't still the sexiest thing she'd ever seen. A challenge, certainly, but a meltable one.

BACK TO LONDON

Hanayo sighed as she looked at Rin huddled in the center of the bed. She understood why Maki had shown Rin exactly what Nozomi was capable of, but Hanayo still wanted to be mad at Rin's violation of her trust, not feeling sorry for the woman she adored.

Nozomi had been so helpful at establishing a 1Kiss video and photo aesthetic and she'd always been a good friend. Until now. When Hanayo had talked to Eli, the older woman hadn't been apologetic but she'd been very firm in her agreement that Nozomi needed to learn a lesson this time. Which was what Hanayo needed to hear. Nozomi's devices were on their way to London and Hanayo would put her computer skills to good use.

But what to do about Rin? Was she actually sobbing? Hanayo caved and curled around Rin, arms embracing her partner.

"Kayochin?"

"Shhhh...I love you, Rin-chan. I forgive you. I'm right here."

Rin flipped with manic energy, burrowing into Hanayo, "It was awful, Kayo-chin. You were so mad and Nico was so mad and Maki was so mean…"

"It's all right, Rin. Nico and Maki love you too. And Eli and Umi and I are going to fix this."

Rin sniffled, "Good. I don't want Nozomi to take anymore pictures of you or Nico." There was a pause, then a whisper, "Or Rin."

Hanayo looked at Rin with surprise. Rin always believed the best of people. But sometimes she was so vulnerable, "We'll talk about that later, okay, Rin-chan? I think it's time to do something fun instead."

Rin nodded. Hanayo felt herself relax as she held Rin closer, "How about a bubble bath?"

DOWN THE HALL

Nico had showered. Maki was watching random channels on the television and taking a few moments to recover from the non Nico related excitement, in preparation for what Nico would probably do to her heart rate.

Nico came out, hair down and wet, bathrobe engulfing her. Maki always teased Nico about choosing hotels based on their bathrobe options but as the smaller woman climbed on top of her, she had to admit that this example was particularly soft and fluffy.

Nico leaned down, smelling like fruit and warmth, and nipped her earlobe, "You should have joined me in the shower, Maki-chan."

"Uh," Nico's robe slipped open and Maki jumped. Nico's weight was hardly enough to hold her down.

Nico rolled with the momentum and landed on the bed next to Maki, "Whoa, there, Maki-chan. Save bucking for when we get to the Wild West. Nico will buy a Stetson."

Maki looked away, suddenly embarrassed. She started to get up when Nico grabbed her, pulling sharply. Maki tried not to land on Nico and failed.

"Look at me, Maki-chan." Nico whispered.

Maki nodded, staring into Nico's eyes. She could feel Nico breathing and her own heart racing and she started to feel too awkward and too tall and too...her palms were burning, but she rested one on Nico's waist, the other cooling off in Nico's wet hair.

Nico smiled, "I missed you so much. I love you so much. We don't have to rush."

"Say that when you're not naked," Maki thought, but she probably just gawked. Do you ever get over feeling whatever age you first fell in love, she wondered. And then she found herself lost in the ruby of Nico's eyes, breathing in Nico's warmth, moving closer, static filling her brain, pressure building. And is it always this easy to fall in love again?

"Maki?" Nico sounded worried.

Maki realized she was shaking. And probably tearing up. Nico was starting to look like someone who was about to ask if Maki really wanted to do this. And Maki really wasn't sure that she wouldn't just explode into a crying mess all over Nico but she didn't want to stop touching her. Ever.

"Do you…"

Maki pounced, kissing Nico in a rush, before Nico could say anything else, before Maki could worry about anything else, her hands moving without thought, fingers tingling as they swept over all of Nico's curves, her body easily remembering how to crash back into her lover's.

Sometime after dawn, they ordered room service and Nico demanded a candle be put in a blueberry muffin so she could sing 'Happy Birthday" to Maki. The private performance by the World's Number One Super Idol, wearing only Maki's shirt, using their bed as her stage, was worth the wait.


End file.
